Earnings report

Richmond-area firms: Colfax Corp.

Colfax Corp. today reported income of $6.9 million for the first quarter, a slight increase over the $6.8 million in the same period a year earlier.

The Richmond-based maker of industrial pumps and valves said quarterly sales increased 4.3 percent to $136.3 million.

Organic sales were up 18 percent, driven by strong growth in the commercial marine, oil and gas, power generation and global navy markets. But the global economic conditions continued to deteriorate in the quarter, which reflected in organic orders declining 25 percent.

Shares fell 11 cents, or 1.31 percent, to close at $8.29. -- Times-Dispatch staff

Companies of interest: Berkshire Hathaway

Warren Buffett's company reported a $1.5 billion first-quarter loss as it wrote down its ConocoPhillips investment and mostly unrealized derivative losses helped drag Berkshire Hathaway's results below last year's roughly $900 million profit.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. recorded a loss of $990 per share in this year's quarter, down from the $607 net income per Class A share reported in the same period a year ago.

This was Berkshire's first quarterly loss since 2001's third quarter, when the company suffered large insurance losses as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Buffett already acknowledged a mistake in last year's purchase of a large amount of ConocoPhillips stock when oil and gas prices were near their peak.

Berkshire says it sold 13.7 million of its 79.9 million shares of ConocoPhillips to generate a loss that can offset past capital gains taxes.

Berkshire's revenue fell 9.5 percent in the quarter, to $22.8 billion from last year's $25.2 billion. -- The Associated Press

Toyota Motor Corp.

Toyota Motor Corp., battered by plunging global sales, reported its worst annual loss since its 1937 founding -- and forecast even more red ink in the year ahead.

The world's largest carmaker said its net loss for the January-March quarter was 765.8 billion yen ($7.7 billion) -- bigger than General Motors reported for the same period.

That brings Toyota's fiscal-year loss to a larger-thanexpected 436.94 billion yen ($4.4 billion), a dramatic reversal from the record profit of 1.72 trillion yen it earned the previous year.

Toyota is projecting its losses for the fiscal year through March 2010 will grow to 550 billion yen ($5.55 billion).

-- The Associated Press

Community bank: Central Va. Bankshares

Central Virginia Bankshares Inc. reported first-quarter net income of $261,136, or 6 cents per share, compared with $895,505, or 34 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.

The bank sold 11,385 shares of preferred stock to the Treasury on Jan. 30, raising $11.4 million in additional capital.

Central Virginia Bankshares is the holding company for Central Virginia Bank, which has its headquarters and main branch office in Powhatan and six offices in the counties of Cumberland, Chesterfield and Henrico.

Shares closed unchanged at $4. -- Carol Hazard